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Help us to Help You
The guidance on this page and the form below is intended to be just that - guidance. There is no ideal candidate, and hard and fast route to success. These questions and the statement you'll submit are intended to help us get to know you a little, and for you to tell us how financial support from us can help set you on a new path or get you to a destination you might not otherwise be able to reach.
Generally our successful applicants are young, but we've also helped people coming back to study later in life, perhaps after caring responsibilities or obstacles posed by health meant that educational opportunities weren't available to them the first time around.
We exist to help Scots but we also recognise that some Scots were made in Scotland, and others were shaped by the country later in their lives.
We would typically fund postgraduate education, but we have supported musicians, artists, craftspeople and other professionals for whom 'education' involved acquiring or developing skills somewhere other than a classroom or lab.
Our recipients are usually looking for help while studying outside the UK, and benefitting from the transformational power offered by that kind of international experience. However, we recognise that the different responsibilities and commitments in people's lives mean that the shape that experience may take can differ wildly from person to person.
In the end, we want to hear a little about you, where you are trying to get to in your life, and how we can help you reach that destination.
Apply
Please complete both forms below. The first form will take you through a series of questions, the second will allow you to upload your CV and personal statement. Please give the same email address on both forms.
Please complete all questions in both forms. You will need to provide the names and email addresses of two people who can provide references. We don't take up all references. When we do, we aim to give referees at least two weeks to respond.
You should also provide a CV of no more than 2 pages, which can be in your own format, but should include a summary of your education to date, including schools, colleges and universities attended and the qualifications - and grades - attained. If you completed your most recent educational qualification more than a year ago, please tell us what you have been doing since and indicate how those experiences might help you in the steps you plan to take next.
Finally, you should submit a personal statement of no more than 2,500 words, in which you might want to include:
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Details of the course or activity for which you are seeking assistance (including as a minimum, the title and a brief description of the course / activity, the start and finishing dates, as well as the name of the university or institution and where you will be based during the programme of study or other activity).
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Details of the support you are seeking - what will you use the funds for, and how will they supplement any other sources of funding available to you (please detail what these are). Please provide a breakdown of costs for the programme or activity. The Trust takes relative need, as well as academic and professional potential - and other factors - into account when assessing applications. We therefore need to know what other sources you may be able to call on to help fund your course, for example other bursaries or scholarships (give us details of other applications you intend to make or have pending), income from employment, savings, loans, parental support.
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Details of why you are pursuing this course or activity: How will this activity or programme benefit you and other people? What do you hope or expect to gain through pursuing it? What do you anticipate being the transformative effect of this opportunity - both in terms of the programme itself and the opportunity to undertake it in an international setting? What is different or unusual about the opportunity & what excites you about it? Are there ways in which this experience is novel, will it create new knowledge in a particular field, will it help particular communities or help connect Scotland to the wider world in some way? Is it a pathway onto further activity in the future, or does it build on something that has already been an important part of your life?
You can apply at any time of year but the trustees make their decisions in April and September. Applications received by 11.59pm on 7 March and 7 August will be considered in April and September respectively..
You may find it easier to complete Form 1 on a desktop, laptop or tablet, rather than a phone. Please ensure that uploaded documents are smaller than 10MB.